When Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar aflame at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, he was part of an era that introduced what is known today as The Summer of Love. It was the beginning of a musical revolution that included bands like Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane. Not only were these bands wild and unafraid to share their passion on stage, they also took full advantage of the new technologies available that could make their instruments sound different than anything that had been heard of previously.

Flash Forward

If you’ve listened to music produced in the last few years, chances are you’ve heard some of the ways in which technology is changing the sound of music. From Kanye West’s use of auto-tune, The Killers’ use of Space Designer, a dynamic reverb, in their drum kit for Losing Touch, the sound of today’s music is unmistakably different from the music of yesteryear. Today, even Ellen is having fun with Autotune.

While technology has changed the way music sounds, recent advancements have also changed the entire process behind making music and today, just about anyone can grab a computer and cut an album.

Recording An Album: An Odyssey

A few years ago, if you wanted to record an album, you would first, write the songs, and then you would rehearse them with your band until you all sounded perfect. After that, if you were lucky enough to get signed by a label, you and your band would rent a studio space, which gave you access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. You would then spend tireless hours laying down tracks, and engineering the sound. The final result would be an album that would hopefully be sold in stores. If you didn’t have that option, you were stuck with a tape recorder, a microphone, and your will to make music.

Today however, making your own music has become easier than ever. Albums that used to require professional studios, and racks full of expensive equipment can now be recorded and mastered from the comfort of your own laptop. Even the most inexpensive Apple laptop nowadays, comes with Garage Band and the ability to record, mix, and export professional quality songs.

But what if you want to take it a step further? What if you want to do what Lady Gaga does? Well you can, and it won’t cost you nearly as much as it would have even ten years ago.

Today’s Tech in Action

For those of us who remember when Cher’s 1998 song Believe hit the airwaves, it was clear that there was something different about it. The singer we’d known for songs like I Got You Babe, and Gypsies Tramps and Thieves, had a new sound. Her powerful voice was aided by the use of Autotune, which is especially noticeable when she signs the word “believe.” The song went on to earn Cher a Grammy Award.

The sounds created by today’s artists, that make full use of technology are also gaining attention. Icelandic singer Bjork’s seventh full-length studio album, Volta was nominated for a Grammy. According to an interview between Bjork’s technical director, Alan Pollard and Dustin Driver, the tracks for Bjork’s recent work were, “created using dozens of samplers, gizmos and computers.” Bjork’s on-tour equipment list includes such familiar tools as a MacBook Pro and Airport Express.

American singer and songwriter, T-Pain, has used Auto-Tune to give his music a distinct sound. According to another interview with Dustin Driver, T-Pain, used to cart around a significant amount of music gear, but then switched to Apple’s Garage Band, and then to Logic. Today T-Pain relies on this new technology to give him a distinct sound. T-Pain explained this need to stay ahead with technology in saying, “Unless I switch it up all the time I don’t really feel like I’m standing out anymore. That’s the only way I’ll be able to make it different.”

Do-it-Yourself: Making Music Like the Pros

What You’ll Need: Hardware

- A computer. Just about any of Apple’s new laptopsor desktops should work. PC’s work too, but they need added software and hardware like M-Audio’s FireWire 410 interface and Pro-Tools LE.

- A decent microphone. For starters I like Blue’s Snowball, it’s about $99.00 and it plugs right into your usb port.

My own interest in the evolution of music and technology is very personal. When I was a kid, I used two tape players to record the songs I wrote, and build tracks. Unfortunately, this was not an ideal solution as, A; I didn’t live in a recording studio, and B; every time I recorded the tape player, building out layers, the track diminished in sound quality and suffered what is known as generation loss.

By the time I was a teenager, I had a primitive PC and a very basic recording setup, (a $14 microphone, and an old Casio keyboard with no midi-output). Throughout the years, I collected, tested, and tried many different ways to record the songs I created. However, the best news came in 2004 when Steve Jobs introduced Garage band at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. “This changes everything,” I remember saying to myself.

After learning to use Garageband I decided to make the investment and buy Logic, and I have to say, I’ve never looked back. If I feel like singing a cover of a Janis Joplin song, I only have to hop onto iTunes, buy the Stingray Karaoke version of the song, plug that into Logic, and start singing. I’ve also made several of my own songs, including I’m Here for Me (see below).

For me, the odyssey of creating and recording music has been a fun and challenging one. I've recently taught people how to record their own songs, and create music, and I've found the experience to be deeply rewarding. I encourage anyone who has ever wanted to sing, to at least give it a try. The technology makes it easy, and who knows, you just might end up a rock star.

About the Author Jennifer L. Jacobson is Retrevo.com's Director of Public Relations, an author, and self-proclaimed music-maker. Jennifer has a Masters Degree in Broadcast Electronic Communication Arts and spends her free time recording music at her Logic Pro station, and looking for new trends in the music industry. Jennifer is on Twitter @jcommunication

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This does not mean that minority demographics of workers won’t benefit from green jobs. Since most green jobs studies show that investing in green jobs produces more total jobs than investing in fossil fuel industry jobs (which also tend to employ many whites and males), all of these groups of people would likely have more jobs, in total, if more money were invested in green jobs.

Couldn't agree more - Cher's "Believe" was good because the tools expanded upon her talent. Even if you don't care for her voice or style, you've gotta admit that she's got vocal talent.

The glaring problem with so many of the Hip Hop folks is that Autotune IS the only talent in their bag. T-Pain may be a skillful arranger and able to deftly wield the tools, but he's no singer. Even with Pop artists, many of them are only cranking out hits thanks to digital augmentation and highly skilled producers who can shape nearly any sound into an interesting song. Case in point: